President János Áder has signed the “Save Bees and Farmers!” European Citizens’ Initiative.
According to MTI, the president added his name online to the initiative on Monday. President Áder noted that with over 20,000 tonnes of honey produced each year, Hungary ranks second in the European Union after Spain. In terms of acacia honey, Hungary is a leader, he said. He called on the EU to do more to ensure that European consumers can get hold of the honey it produces. It should also protect its markets from cheaper, poorer quality honey from outside the bloc, he added.
Meanwhile, Ákos Eger, the head of Hungarian Association of Nature Conservationists, said the declining number of bees and other pollinating insects upset the harmony of man and nature. “This is not in the distant future as there are parts of our planet, in China for instance, where fruit plantations are getting pollinated by hand,” he said. The petition can be signed until midnight on Sept. 30, he said.